Method for moving a mounting head unit

ABSTRACT

In component feeding head apparatus, a head unit having a holding unit for releasably holding a component and a rotating unit for rotating the holding unit around its center of axis is set as an object of an up-and-down operation and an inverting operation, and a head lifting device for moving the head unit up and down and a head inverting device for inverting the head unit are provided as constructions independent from the head unit that is the object.

This is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/536,361, which is the national phase of PCT/JP03/15317, filed Dec. 1,2003.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a component feeding head apparatus inwhich at a component pickup position, a component arrayed in a componentarrangement unit is held from a mounting-side surface to be mounted on asubstrate, the held component is moved to a component transfer positionwhile the mounting-side surface of the component is inverted, and thecomponent is transferred to a mounting head unit at the componenttransfer position so as to enable the mounting head unit to mount thecomponent on the substrate, as well as a component feeding apparatushaving the component feeding head apparatus, a component mountingapparatus and a method for moving the mounting head unit.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, this kind of component feeding head apparatus has beenknown to have various structures (see, e.g., Japanese unexamined patentpublication No. H11-102936 A). For example, there is a component feedinghead apparatus 501 shown in FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 12, the component feeding head apparatus 501 has aholding nozzle 502 for holding a component at its top end, and includesa head unit 503 for supporting the holding nozzle 502 so as to allowrotation (so called θ-rotation) of the holding nozzle 502 around itscenter of axis, a θ-rotating unit 510 for θ-rotation of the holdingnozzle 502 around the center of axis, a head inverting unit 520 forrotating the head unit 503 so as to invert it in vertical direction, anda lifting unit 530 for moving the head unit 503 up and down along thecenter of axis.

As shown in FIG. 12, the head unit 503 includes a ball screw shaft 504with the holding nozzle 502 fixed to its top end, and a nut 505 fittedto the ball screw shaft 504. Moreover, the θ-rotating unit 510 cantransmit a rotational motion of a drive motor to the nut 505 as areciprocating motion in the vertical direction with use of a cam and camfollower. With the vertical reciprocating motion of the nut 505, theball screw shaft 504 is rotated around the center of axis, therebyallowing θ-rotation of the holding nozzle 502.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 12, the θ-rotating unit 510 and the headinverting unit 520 are both supported by a head frame 540, and the headunit 503 is also supported by the head frame 540 in a way that allowsinversion. Further, the head lifting unit 530 can move the head unit 503up and down by moving the head frame 540 up and down.

Moreover, although unshown in FIG. 12, the component feeding headapparatus 501 includes a moving device (unshown) for moving the headunit 503 between a position at which components are picked up by thehead unit 503 from a component arrangement unit in the component feedingapparatus having respective components arranged so as to be picked up toa component transfer position at which the picked up components aretransferred to a mounting head for mounting the components on asubstrate in the component mounting apparatus. The moving deviceperforms the moving operation by moving the head unit 503, theθ-rotating unit 510, the head inverting unit 520, the head frame 540 andthe head lifting unit 530 in an integrated manner.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Currently, in the field of component mounting for producingcomponent-mounted substrates with a plurality of components mounted on asubstrate, it is strongly demanded to increase the accuracy of componentmounting for enhancing the quality of the component-mounted substratesand to reduce its production cost. As one method for reducing theproduction cost, component mounting may be implemented faster so as toincrease production efficiency. Meanwhile, such faster componentmounting makes it necessary to increase the working speed in eachconstructional sections in the component mounting apparatus, which maycause more frequent generation of vibration, and the generation ofvibration may exercise a large influence on the precision of componentmounting, resulting in component mounting with degraded precision.

One method for implementing the faster component mounting withoutdegrading the precision of the component mounting may be composed ofcomparing between a component feeding line that is a movement line ofthe head unit 503 by the moving device in the component feeding headapparatus 501 (i.e., a movement line from the component pickup positionto the component transfer position) and a component mounting line thatis a movement line of the mounting head unit (i.e., a movement line fromthe component transfer position to a mounting position of a component ona substrate), shortening the distance of the component mounting line ofthe mounting head unit which exerts a direct influence on the componentmounting operation while keeping the operation speed low so as todecrease the generation of vibration, and lengthening the distance ofthe component feeding line of the head unit 503 which exerts less directinfluence on the component mounting operation while increasing theoperation speed so as to decrease a time necessary for the movement.

In order to implement such a method, it is necessary to allow the headunit 503 in the component feeding head apparatus 501 to move faster andto move to the vicinity of the substrate on which the component ismounted as much as possible (i.e., to the space between the mountinghead unit and the substrate in the vicinity of the substrate).

However, in the conventional structure, the component parts which aresubstantially moved in the component feeding head apparatus 501 includethe head unit 503, the θ rotating unit 510, the head inverting unit 520,the head frame 540 and the head lifting unit 530, and thereforeimplementing the method is difficult as the structure is not compact.

Accordingly, in order to solve the problem, an object of the presentinvention is to provide a component feeding head apparatus for feedingrespective components by holding and moving the respective componentsfed by a head unit from a component arrangement unit and transferringthe held components to a mounting head unit which mounts the componentson a substrate, in which the head unit is moved faster and is downsizedso as to achieve enhanced precision of component mounting and increasedproductivity, as well as a component feeding apparatus having thecomponent feeding head apparatus, a component mounting apparatus and amethod for moving the mounting head unit.

In accomplishing these objects, the present invention is constituted asshown below.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda component feeding head apparatus for holding a component arrayed in acomponent arrangement unit from a mounting-side surface to be mounted ona substrate at a component pickup position, then transferring the heldcomponent to a component transfer position while inverting themounting-side surface of the component, and then transferring thecomponent to a mounting head unit at the component transfer position soas to mount the component on the substrate by the mounting head unit,comprising:

a head unit having a holding unit for releasably holding the componentand a rotating unit for rotating the holding unit around its center ofaxis;

a head inverting device having a lifting-support-guiding section whichsupports the head unit in a manner allowing up-and-down movement alongthe center of axis of the holding unit, for guiding the up-and-downmovement, the head inverting device for inverting the head unit at aninversion center arranged in a direction almost orthogonal to the centerof axis of the holding unit via the lifting-support-guiding section soas to invert the holding unit in a direction along the center of axis;

a head lifting device for moving the head unit up and down in adirection along the center of axis of the holding unit while beingguided by the lifting-support-guiding section so as to move the holdingunit up and down;

a head support unit for supporting the head lifting device and the headinverting device; and

a head moving device for moving the head support unit between thecomponent pickup position and the component transfer position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe component feeding head apparatus as defined in the first aspect,wherein

the head lifting device comprises:

-   -   a cam having a center of rotation arranged in a direction almost        orthogonal to the center of axis of the holding unit as an        eccentric axis, for performing an eccentric rotational motion        around the center of rotation;    -   a lifting driving unit for driving the cam to perform the        rotational motion around the center of rotation; and    -   a cam follower provided on the head unit for converting the        eccentric rotational motion of the cam to an up-and-down        reciprocating motion in a direction along the center of axis of        the holding unit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe component feeding head apparatus as defined in the second aspect,wherein

the cam has a cam curve portion formed continuously around the eccentricaxis for transmitting the rotational motion to the cam follower, and

the cam curve portion includes a contact part coming into contact withthe cam follower and a contact retreat part formed in succession to thecontact part for retreating the contact with the cam follower.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe component feeding head apparatus as defined in the third aspect,wherein inverting the head unit by the head inverting device is allowedin a state that the contact between the cam and the cam follower in thehead lifting device is retreated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe component feeding head apparatus as defined in the fourth aspect,wherein the head lifting device further comprises a rotational load unitfor imparting a rotational load to the rotational motion of the cam in astate that the contact between the cam and the cam follower isretreated.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe component feeding head apparatus as defined in the second aspect,wherein the center of rotation of the cam in the head lifting device andthe center of inversion of the head inverting device are each arrangedin a direction almost orthogonal to a movement direction of the headmoving device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided the component feeding head apparatus as defined in the firstaspect, further comprising a head support unit moving device for movingthe head support unit in a direction almost orthogonal to the center ofaxis of the holding unit and almost orthogonal to a movement directionof the head moving device.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided the component feeding head apparatus as defined in the firstaspect, wherein the lifting-support-guiding section includes an LM guidehaving a rail section mounted on either one of the head unit and thehead inverting device, and a rail engagement section which is mounted onthe other and is movable while being engaged with and guided by the railsection.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe component feeding head apparatus as defined in the first aspect,further comprising

a component recognition device for picking up images of the componentsarrayed in the component arrangement unit and recognizing arrangement ofthe components in the component arrangement unit, wherein

the component recognition device is supported by the head support unitand the head moving device allows to move the component recognitiondevice together with the head support unit.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda component feeding apparatus, comprising:

the component feeding head apparatus as defined in the first aspect;

the component arrangement unit for arranging a plurality of thecomponents so as to be picked up by the head unit; and

a component feeding/containing unit for containing the respectivecomponents in a manner allowing to feed in the component arrangementunit.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a component mounting apparatus, comprising:

the component feeding apparatus as defined in the tenth aspect;

the mounting head unit for releasably holding the component;

a substrate holding unit for releasably holding the substrate; and

a positioning device for positioning the substrate holding unit and themounting head unit.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method in which from an upper side of a substrate mountingregion where components are mounted on a substrate by a mounting headunit, the mounting head unit is moved to a component transfer positionwhere the component held by an inverting head unit is transferred to themounting head unit, comprising:

determining a pass point between the substrate mounting region and thecomponent transfer position, at which the mounting head unit will notinterfere with the inverting head unit during movement of the mountinghead unit;

calculating movement times taken for the mounting head unit, when themounting head unit is moved, to pass the determined pass point both in acase of movement in a direction along a surface of the substrate and ina case of movement in a direction almost orthogonal to the surface ofthe substrate;

starting the movement of a longer time among the calculated movementtimes and calculating a difference between the respective movementtimes; and

starting the other movement so as to move the mounting head unit to thecomponent transfer position via the pass point, after holding up startof the other movement for the difference between the movement times.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the componentfeeding head apparatus, the head unit which is an object subjected tothe inverting operation and the up-and-down operation has a minimumstructure composed of only a holding unit having a function to holdcomponents and a rotating unit for rotating the holding unit around itscenter of axis, and the head inverting device performing the invertingoperation of the head unit and the head lifting device performing theup-and-down operation are not included in the object but are providedindependently of the head unit, which allows the head unit to bedownsized.

More particularly, via the lifting-support-guiding section whichsupports the head unit in a manner allowing up-and-down movement andwhich can guide the up-and-down movement, the head unit is invertiblysupported by the head inverting device, and while being guided by thelifting support guiding section, the head unit can be moved up and downby the head lifting device. This enables the head unit to have arequisite minimum structure, thereby achieving downsizing of the headunit.

Thus, in the component feeding head apparatus, achievement of downsizingof the head unit makes it possible to move the head unit to be moved tothe position as close as possible to the mounting position of thecomponents mounted on the substrate by the mounting head unit. Suchefforts have conventionally been difficult to achieve.

Consequently, among a component feeding line that is a movement line ofthe head unit (i.e., a movement line from the component pickup positionto the component transfer position) and a component mounting line thatis a movement line of the mounting head unit (i.e., a movement line fromthe component transfer position to a mounting position of the componentson the substrate), the distance of the component mounting line of themounting head unit which exerts a direct influence on the componentmounting operation can be set shorter while the operation speed of themounting head unit is kept low so as to decrease the generation ofvibration involved, which achieves enhanced mounting prevision in thecomponent mounting. Further, at the same time, the distance of thecomponent feeding line of the head unit which exerts less directinfluence on the component mounting operation (i.e., vibration generatedby the movement of the head unit exerts less influence on the mountinghead unit and the substrate) can be set longer while the operation speedof the head unit can be increased. This makes it possible to decrease atime necessary for feeding the components to the mounting head unit inthe component mounting and to increase productivity in the componentmounting. Therefore, it becomes possible to provide the componentfeeding head apparatus which can achieve and implement both the enhancedprevision in the component mounting and the increased productivity inthe component mounting.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the headlifting device performing the up-and-down operation of the downsizedhead section does not have a complicated structure but has a simplestructure composed of a cam and a cam follower, the up-and-downoperation can be reliably executed, while at the same time, the headlifting device itself can be downsized. Consequently, the moving speedof the head moving device which moves the head lifting device and thehead inverting device together with the head unit between the componentpickup position and the component transfer position can be increased,thereby making it possible to decrease a time necessary for feeding thecomponents to the mounting head unit.

According to the third aspect, the fourth aspect and the fifth aspect ofthe present invention, since it is so structured that the contactbetween the cam and the cam follower in the head lifting device can beretreated, and in this contact avoidance state, the head unit isinverted by the head inverting device, the head inverting device canperform the inverting operation without the inverting operation beingdisturbed by the head lifting device. By structuring the head liftingdevice and the head inverting device in this manner, the head liftingdevice and the head inverting device can be constructed independently ofthe head unit without being included in the construction of the headunit which is the object of the inverting operation and the up-and-downoperation, thereby making it possible to achieve downsizing of the headunit.

Moreover, the contact avoidance state is achieved by the fact that thehead unit supported by the head inverting device in a manner allowingup-and-down movement through the lifting-support-guiding section isguided by the lifting-support-guiding section while being constantlybiased in upward direction so as to cancel its own weight, and that theupper limit of the biased direction is prescribed.

Moreover, the head lifting device further has a rotational load sectionfor imparting a rotational load to the rotational motion of the cam inthe state that the contact between the cam and the cam follower isavoided, and therefore even if the contact is avoided and a load is notgenerated to the rotational motion of the cam by the contact between thecam and the cam follower, a load can be imparted to the cam by therotational load section. Therefore, the rotational motion of the cam canbe stabilized, and so efficient controllability over the rotationalmotion can be implemented.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the center ofrotation of the cam in the head lifting device and the center ofinversion of the head inverting device are each arranged in a directionalmost orthogonal to the movement direction of the head moving device,which allows the respective arrangement of the head lifting device andthe head inverting device to be more compact. This makes it possible toincrease the moving speed of the head unit by the head moving device,and to decrease a time necessary for the head unit to transfer thecomponents to the mounting head unit.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the componentfeeding head apparatus further has a head support unit moving device formoving the head support unit in a direction almost orthogonal to thecenter of axis of the holding unit and almost orthogonal to the movementdirection of the head moving device, so that positioning of the headunit and the mounting head unit at the component transfer position inthis direction can be performed on the side of the component feedinghead apparatus. This allows further simplification of the movement lineof the mounting head unit, which can reduce vibration and the likegenerated by the movement and enhance the precision in the componentmounting.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, thelifting-support-guiding section is an LM guide having a rail sectionmounted on either one of the head unit and the head inverting device anda rail engagement section mounted on the other and engaged with the railsection while being guided so as to be able to move, which makes itpossible to accomplish the effects of the various aspects.

According to the ninth embodiment of the present invention, thecomponent feeding head apparatus further has a component recognitiondevice for taking images of the components arranged in the componentarrangement unit and recognizing arrangement of the components in thecomponent arrangement unit, and the component recognition device issupported by the head support unit in the state of being integrated withthe head support unit, and can be moved together with the head supportunit by the head moving device, so that the moving device of the headunit and the moving device of the component recognition device can becombined and used also as the head moving device. Such a structure,which can be achieved by the fact that the moving speed of the head unitby the head moving device is increased, allows the construction of thecomponent feeding head apparatus to be simplified so as to enhance itsreliability and allows the production cost of the device to be reduced.

According to the tenth aspect or the eleventh aspect of the presentinvention, in the component feeding apparatus and the component mountingapparatus having the component feeding head apparatus offering theeffects of the various aspects, an effect to achieve both the enhancedprecision of the component mounting and the increased productivity inthe component mounting can be gained.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, calculating apass point between the substrate mounting region and the componenttransfer position, at which the mounting head unit will not interferewith the inverting head section during movement of the mounting headunit, calculating respective movement times taken for the mounting headunit, when the mounting head unit is moved, to pass the calculated passpoint both in a case of movement in a direction along a surface of thesubstrate and in a case of movement in a direction almost orthogonal tothe surface of the substrate, starting the movement of a longer timeamong the calculated movement times while calculating a differencebetween the respective movement times, and after holding up start of theother movement for the difference between the travel times, starting theother movement so as to move the mounting head unit to the componenttransfer position via the pass point makes it possible to reduce a timenecessary for the movement and to increase the productivity in thecomponent mounting. Particularly, this can solve the conventionalproblem that after starting the movement in the direction almostorthogonal to the surface of the substrate, the other movement isstarted, which always limits the start of the other movement and causesa problem that the time necessary for movement of the mounting head unitcannot be shortened.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description taken in conjunction withpreferred embodiments of the invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electronic component mountingapparatus in a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an inverting head device includedin the electronic component mounting apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view showing the invertinghead device;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing the inverting head device ofFIG. 2 in X axis direction;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the inverting head device of FIG. 4taken along an allow A-A;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the inverting head device of FIG. 4taken along an allow B-B;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing operation procedures for transferringelectronic components in the inverting head device to a mounting headunit;

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D are schematic explanatory views each showing therelation between an inverting head section and the mounting head unit inthe respective transfer operations in FIG. 7, in which FIG. 8A shows thestate that the inverting head device holds and picks up electroniccomponents at the component pickup position, FIG. 8B shows the statethat the inverting head section completes holding and pickup operationsof the electronic components and the mounting head unit is positioned atthe component transfer position, FIG. 8C shows the state that at thecomponent transfer position, the electronic components are transferredfrom the inverting head section to the mounting head unit, and FIG. 8Dshows the state that the mounting head unit performs mounting of theelectronic components,

FIG. 9 is a schematic explanatory view showing the operation to move aconventional mounting head unit to the component transfer position;

FIG. 10 is a schematic explanatory view showing the operation to move aconventional mounting head unit to the component transfer position;

FIG. 11 is a schematic explanatory view showing the operation to movethe mounting head unit of the first embodiment to the component transferposition;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a conventional component feedinghead apparatus;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a recognition camera device havinga component feeding apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view showing an inverting head unithaving a recognition camera device according to a second embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 15 is a side view showing the recognition camera device of FIG. 14as viewed from X axis direction;

FIG. 16 is a front view the recognition camera device of FIG. 14 asviewed from Y axis direction;

FIG. 17 is a front view the recognition camera device of FIG. 14 asviewed from Z axis direction;

FIG. 18 is a schematic explanatory view showing the operation of theinverting head unit in the second embodiment; and

FIG. 19 is a schematic explanatory view showing the operation of theinverting head unit and the recognition camera device in the firstembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the description of the present invention proceeds, it is to benoted that like parts are designated by like reference numeralsthroughout the accompanying drawings.

Hereinbelow, the embodiments of the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

A component feeding head apparatus, a component feeding apparatus havingthe component feeding head apparatus, and an electronic componentmounting apparatus 101 exemplifying the component mounting apparatusaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention are shown inFIG. 1. Description is first given of the construction and the operationof the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 with reference toFIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 isan apparatus for performing mounting operation to mount electroniccomponents 2 such as chip components and bare IC chips exemplifying thecomponents on a substrate 3, and is roughly composed of a componentfeeding apparatus 4 which exemplifies the component feeding apparatusfor containing a plurality of the electronic components 2 in a feedablemanner and a mounting apparatus 5 for performing mounting operation tomount the respective electronic components 2 fed from the componentfeeding apparatus 4 on the substrate 3.

In the component feeding apparatus 4 shown in FIG. 1, a lifter unit 10exemplifying the component feeding/containing unit which containssemiconductor wafers with a plurality of electronic components 2 formedthereon or component trays containing a plurality of electroniccomponents 2 arrayed like lattice in a selectively feedable manner islocated in the component feeding apparatus 4 on the front side in Y axisdirection of the drawing.

The component feeding apparatus 4 also has a fed component arrangementunit 12 exemplifying the component arrangement unit for arranging thesemiconductor wafers or the component rays selectively fed from thelifter unit 10 so that the electronic components 2 can be picked up fromthe respective articles. It is to be noted that in the case where thesemiconductor wafers are fed from the lifter unit 10, expandingoperation is applied to the semiconductor wafers on the fed componentarrangement unit 12.

Further, the component feeding apparatus 4 has an inverting headapparatus 50 for independently sucking and holding the electroniccomponents 2 from the semiconductor wafer or the component trayselectively arranged on the fed component arrangement unit 12, movingthe electronic components 2 to the mounting apparatus 5 along X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing, and inverting the sucked and heldelectronic components 2 in vertical direction. It is to be noted thatthe detailed construction of the inverting head apparatus 50 will bedescribed later.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, the mounting apparatus 5 has a mountinghead 20 for sucking and holding the electronic components 2 and mountingthem on the substrate 3. Moreover, the mounting apparatus 5 further hasan X-axis robot 22 exemplifying the moving device for supporting themounting head 20 while moving the mounting head 20 backward and forwardalong X axis direction as viewed in the drawing between a componenttransfer position at which the electronic components 2 held by theinverting head apparatus 50 can be transferred to the mounting head 20and a substrate mounting region in which the mounting operation of theelectronic components 2 on the substrate 3 is performed, both thepositions being assigned along X axis direction as viewed in thedrawing. Moreover, the inverting head apparatus 50 can move the heldelectronic components 2 between a component pickup position above thefed component arrangement unit 12 in the component feeding apparatus 4and the component transfer position, both the positions being assignedalong X axis direction as viewed in the drawing.

Moreover, the mounting head 20 can be driven to move up and down by amoving means such as voice coil motors and has a holding unit (unshown)structured so as to impart junction energy such as pressure energy,supersonic vibration energy and thermal energy to a junction portionbetween the electronic components 2 and the substrate 3 via the suckedand held electronic components 2, which makes it possible to press theelectronic components 2 toward the substrate 3 while imparting thejunction energy. Further, the X-axis robot 22 has a movement mechanism(unshown) with use of, for example, a ball screw shaft and a nut fittedwith the ball screw shaft.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, an XY table 26 exemplifying thepositioning device for moving the substrate 3 in X axis direction and Yaxis direction as viewed in the drawing for determining mountingpositions of the electronic components 2 on the substrate 3 with respectto the mounting head 20 is located on a base 24 of the mountingapparatus 5 below the mounting head 20 and the X-axis robot 22. The XYtable 26 is driven to move both in X axis direction and Y axis directionas viewed in the drawing by, for example, a servomotor, and is alsocapable of performing positioning by full close control with use of alinear scale. Further, on the top face of the XY table 26, a substrateholding table 28 for releasably holding and securing the substrate 3 islocated. It is to be noted that in FIG. 1, the X axis direction and theY axis direction are directions along the surface of the substrate 3 andalso are directions orthogonal to each other.

Moreover, the XY table 26 is equipped with a component image pickupcamera 25 exemplifying the component image pickup device. The componentimage pickup camera 25 can pick up images of the electronic components 2arranged on the upper side as viewed in the drawing. More specifically,the electronic components 2 sucked and held by the mounting head 20 arepositioned above the component image pickup camera 25 by movement of thecomponent image pickup camera 25 in X axis direction or Y axis directionas viewed in the drawing by the XY table 26, so that the images can bepicked up. In the electronic component mounting apparatus 101, it isdetermined based on such images of the electronic components 2 that theelectronic components 2 are appropriate for mounting on the cassette 2or judges the sucking and holding postures of the electronic components2 by the mounting head 20.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the electronic component mounting apparatus101 is equipped with a substrate transportation unit 30 in an endportion on the front side in Y axis direction on the top face of thebase 24 for transporting the substrate 3 toward left-hand side in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing so as to feed the substrate 3 to thesubstrate holding table 28 and to discharge the substrate 3 from thesubstrate holding table 28. The substrate transportation unit 30 has aloader 32 exemplifying the loader unit for transporting and feeding thesubstrate 3 from the end portion on the light-hand side in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing to the substrate holding table 28 onthe XY table 26 in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101, andan unloader 34 exemplifying the unloader unit for transporting anddischarging the substrate 3 from the substrate holding table 28 to theend portion on the left-hand side in X axis direction in the electroniccomponent mounting apparatus 101 as viewed in the drawing. It is to benoted that in the first embodiment, the XY table 26 and the substrateholding table 28 in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101exemplify the substrate holding/moving device for performing themovement and holding of the substrate 3.

Description is now given of the mounting operation of the electroniccomponents 2 on the substrate 3 in the electronic component mountingapparatus 101 having such structure.

In the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 in FIG. 1, thesubstrate holding table 28 is moved by the XY table 26 so as to bepositioned between the loader 32 and the unloader 34 on the base 24.Along with the movement, the substrate 3 on which the electroniccomponents 2 should be mounted in the electronic component mountingapparatus 101 is fed to the loader 32 in the substrate transportationunit 30 by, for example, another apparatus or the like adjacent to theelectronic component mounting apparatus 101, and the substrate 3 istransported by the loader 32 in substrate transportation direction B sothat the substrate 3 is fed to the substrate holding table 28 and heldthere. After that, the XY table 26 is moved in X axis direction or Yaxis direction as viewed in the drawing so that the substrate 3 is movedto the substrate mounting region.

In the meantime, in the component feeding apparatus 4, the respectiveelectronic components 2 arranged on the fed component arrangement unit12 are sucked and held so as to be picked up at the component pickupposition by the inverting head apparatus 50. In the inverting headapparatus 50, the electronic component 2 is inverted and moved from thecomponent pickup position to the component transfer position. Moreover,in the mounting apparatus 5, the mounting head 20 is moved to thecomponent transfer position by the X-axis robot 22, and the electroniccomponent 2 is transferred from the inverting head apparatus 50 to themounting head 20. After that, the mounting head 20 in the state ofsucking and holding the transferred electronic component 2 is moved tothe upper side of the substrate mounting region by the X-axis robot 22.

After that, in the substrate mounting region, the component image pickupcamera 25 is moved to the lower side of the electronic component 2 inthe state of being sucked and held by the mounting head 20 by the XYtable 26, and an image of the electronic component 2 is picked up. Basedon the picked up image, it is determined whether or not mounting of theelectronic component 2 on the substrate 3 is appropriate, andθ-correction of the sucking and holding posture or the like isperformed.

After that, if the electronic component 2 is determined to beappropriate for the mounting, then the electronic component 2 sucked andheld by the mounting head 20 is positioned at a position where theelectronic component 2 should be mounted on the substrate 3 held by thesubstrate holding table 28 by the movement of the XY table 26. After thepositioning, up-and-down operation of the mounting head 20 or the likeis performed and the mounting operation of the electronic component 2 onthe substrate 3 is performed. In the case where the mounting operationof a plurality of the electronic components 2 is performed, therespective operations are repeatedly executed for achieving the mountingoperation of the respective electronic components 2.

After that, upon completion of the mounting operation of the respectiveelectronic components 2, the substrate 3 with the respective electroniccomponents 2 mounted thereon is moved together with the substrateholding table 28 to the position between the loader 32 and the unloader34 by the XY table 26, the substrate 3 is transferred from the substrateholding table 28 to the unloader 34, the substrate 3 is transported bythe unloader 34, and the substrate 3 is discharged out of the electroniccomponent mounting apparatus 101. The discharged substrate 3 is, forexample, fed to another apparatus located adjacent to the electroniccomponent mounting apparatus 101 for performing the next processing andthe like in the component mounting, or stored in a substrate storagedevice and the like as the substrate 3 with component mountingcompleted.

Thus, in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101, the mountingoperation of the respective electronic components 2 on the substrate 3is performed. It is to be noted that after the substrate 3 with therespective electronic components 2 mounted thereon is discharged,another new substrate 3 is fed to the loader 32, by which the respectiveelectronic components 2 are mounted on the respective substrates 3 whichare fed in sequence.

Description is now given of the detailed construction of the invertinghead apparatus 50 with reference to FIG. 2 showing a fragmentarysemipermeable perspective view of the inverting head apparatus 50included in the component feeding apparatus 4 in the electroniccomponent mounting apparatus 101.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inverting head apparatus 50 has an invertinghead 51 exemplifying the head unit includes a suction nozzle 52exemplifying the holding unit for releasably sucking and holding theelectronic component 2 and a θ-rotating unit 53 exemplifying therotating unit for allowing rotation (so called θ rotation) of thesuction nozzle 52 around its center of axis. Moreover, the invertinghead apparatus 50 has a head lifting device 70 for moving the invertinghead 51 up and down along the center of axis of the suction nozzle 52 soas to move the suction nozzle 52 up and down, a head inverting device 60for supporting the inverting head 51 in a manner allowing up-and-downmovement while rotating the inverting head 51 around the center ofinversion arranged in Y axis direction as viewed in the drawing which isthe direction almost orthogonal to the center of axis of the suctionnozzle 52 so as to invert the suction nozzle 52 in the direction alongthe center of axis, and a head frame 81 exemplifying the head supportunit for supporting the head lifting device 70 and the head invertingdevice 60. Further, the inverting head apparatus 50 has a head movingdevice 90 for moving the head frame 81 forward and backward in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing, and by the movement, the invertinghead 51 can be moved forward and the backward between the componentpickup position positioned in the vicinity of the end portion on theleft-hand side in X axis direction as viewed in the drawing and thecomponent transfer position positioned in the vicinity of the endportion on the right-hand side in X axis direction as viewed in thedrawing. It is to be noted that in FIG. 2, the center of axis of thesuction nozzle 52 is positioned in Z axis direction as viewed in thedrawing, and the Z axis direction is the direction orthogonal to X axisdirection and Y axis direction as viewed in the drawing.

With regard to the inverting head apparatus 50 having such construction,a fragmentary semipermeable enlarged perspective view of a portion movedby the head moving device 90 is shown in FIG. 3. Moreover, a crosssectional view of the inverting head apparatus 50 of FIG. 3 in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing is shown in FIG. 4, a perspectiveview of FIG. 4 taken along an arrow A-A is shown in FIG. 5, and aperspective view of FIG. 4 taken along an arrow B-B is shown in FIG. 6.With reference to these FIG. 3 through FIG. 6, the further specificconstruction of the inverting head apparatus 50 will be described below.

First, in the inverting head 51, the suction nozzle 52 is supportedrotatably around its center of axis P by a nozzle support section 58 viaa plurality of bearing sections. The suction nozzle 52 can hold theelectronic component 2 releasably in the lower top end as viewed in thedrawing with use of, for example, vacuum suction and the like. Moreover,on the upper end portion of the center of axis P of the suction nozzle52 as viewed in the drawing, a pulley 59 is fixed rotatably around thecenter of axis P. Moreover, in the nozzle support section 58, there is aθ-rotation motor 54 having a drive shaft located in the direction alongthe center of axis P of the suction nozzle 52, and a pulley 57 is alsofixed onto the upper end portion of the drive shaft as viewed in thedrawing, with its arrangement height position being almost equal to thatof the pulley 59. Further, the pulley 59 and the pulley 57 are engagedwith a belt 56, and by rotational driving of the θ rotation motor 54 ineither forward or backward rotational direction, the rotation of thepulley 57 around the drive shaft is transmitted to the pulley 59 throughthe belt 56, so that the pulley 59 can be rotated around the center ofaxis P in either forward or backward direction. This allows rotation ofthe suction nozzle 52 around the center of axis P, i.e., θ-rotation.Moreover, on the left-hand side of the pulley 59 as viewed in FIG. 4, anorigin sensor 55 for detecting the position of an origin in rotationaldirection of the pulley 59 is provided, which makes it possible todetect the position of an origin in the θ-rotation of the suction nozzle52. It is to be noted that in the first embodiment, the θ-rotating unit53 has the θ rotation motor 54, the origin sensor 55, the pulleys 57, 59and the belt 56.

Further, the head inverting device 60 has an inversion shaft 66 which issupported rotatably around an inversion axis R that is the center of itsaxis via a plurality of bearings 67 below the head frame 81. It is to benoted that the inversion axis R is arranged along Y axis direction asviewed in the drawing, and is further arranged so as to be perpendicularto the center of axis P of the suction nozzle 52. Moreover, in FIG. 4,on the end portion on the left-hand side of the inversion shaft 66 asviewed in the drawing, via an LM guide 42 exemplifying thelifting-support-guiding section constructed movably in Z axis directionas viewed in the drawing, the nozzle support section 58 of the invertinghead 51 is mounted. It is to be noted that such an LM guide 42 isconstituted of a rail section fixed to the inversion shaft 66 and a railengagement section fixed to the nozzle support section 58 and engagedwith the rail section, so that the rail engagement section can besupported and guided by the rail section. Moreover, a spring bearing 65is fixed to the lower end portion of the inversion shaft 66 as viewed inFIG. 4, and a spring 41 is provided between the upper side of the springbearing 65 and the lower side of the nozzle support section 58. By thespring 41, the nozzle support section 58 is constantly biased upwardalong the LM guide 42, i.e., in Z direction. Moreover, a stopper 43 ismounted on the nozzle support section 58, and the stopper 43 sets anupper limit of the position biased upward as viewed in the drawing alongthe LM guide 42 by the spring 41. Therefore, with the upper limit setposition as an upper limit position of its up-and-down operation, thenozzle support section 58 is lowered downward from the upper limitposition as viewed in the drawing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, on the end portion on the right-hand sideof the inversion shaft 66 as viewed in the drawing, a pulley 64 with itsinversion axis R as the center of rotation is mounted. Moreover, asshown in FIG. 3, an inverting motor 61 is located on the head frame 81with its drive shaft located in Y axis direction as viewed in thedrawing so as to be almost parallel to and at the same height with theinversion axis R. As shown in FIG. 3, on the end portion on theleft-hand side in Y axis direction of the drive shaft of the invertingmotor 61 as viewed in the drawing, a pulley 62 sharing the center ofrotation with the drive shaft is mounted. Moreover, the respectivepulleys 62 and 64 are arranged so as to be in the same position in termsof Y axis direction. Further, the pulley 62 and the pulley 64 areengaged with a belt 63, and by rotational driving of the inverting motor61 in either forward or backward rotational direction, the rotation ofthe pulley 62 around the drive shaft is transmitted to the pulley 64through the belt 63, so that the pulley 64 can be rotated around theinversion axis R in either forward or backward direction. Consequently,the inversion shaft 66 is rotated around the inversion axis R, and sothe nozzle support section 58 can be rotated via the LM guide 42 ineither forward or backward direction, i.e., the inverting head 51 can berotated. Thus, by rotating the inverting head 51, the suction nozzle 52can be inverted in the direction along the center of axis P. It is to benoted that in FIG. 4, on the right-hand side of the pulley 64 as viewedin the drawing, a slip ring 68 is provided, and through the slip ring68, control signals and power lines are transferred to the θ-rotatingunit 53 of the inverting head 51. It is to be noted that in the firstembodiment, the head inverting device 60 has the inverting motor 61, thepulleys 62, 64, the belt 63, the inversion shaft 66, the spring bearing65 and the slip ring 68.

Moreover, the head lifting device 70 has a lifting motor 71 exemplifyingthe lifting driving device having a drive shaft 71 a arranged above theinversion axis R of the head inverting device 60 in Z axis direction asviewed in the drawing and along Y axis direction as viewed in thedrawing, the lifting motor 71 being fixed to the head frame 81.Moreover, on the drive shaft 71 a of the lifting motor 71, a lifting cam72 exemplifying the disk-like cam which uses the center of axis of thedrive shaft 71 a as the center of eccentric rotation (eccentric axis Q)and rotates together with the drive shaft 71 a around the eccentric axisQ for providing an eccentric rotational motion is mounted. Moreover, onthe upper side of the nozzle support section 58 of the inverting head51, a lifting cam follower 73 exemplifying the cam follower capable ofcoming into contact with an outer peripheral portion 72 a of the liftingcam 72 is mounted. It is to be noted that the lifting cam follower 73may be like a rotatable roller or may be secured so as not to berotated. Consequently, by rotational driving of the lifting motor 71 ineither forward or backward direction around the drive shaft, aneccentric rotational motion of the lifting cam 72 around the eccentricaxis Q is performed, and the rotational motion can be converted by thelifting cam 72 to a reciprocating movement in Z axis direction as viewedin the drawing. Moreover, such a reciprocating movement is transmittedto the nozzle support section 58 and so the nozzle support section 58 isguided by the LM guide 42 in its movement direction while the invertinghead 51 is moved up and down along Z axis direction as viewed in thedrawing, i.e., along the center of axis P. It is to be noted that anamount of the up-and-down operation of such inverting head 51 is equalto, as shown in FIG. 5, an amount of change by rotation in the eccentricaxis Q in the lifting cam 72 and the lifting cam 72 having a size fromthe eccentric axis Q toward the outer peripheral portion 72 a positioneddownward in Z axis direction as viewed in the drawing.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 5, in the first embodiment, the outerperipheral portion 72 a of the lifting cam 72 exemplifies the cam curveportion formed continuously around the eccentric axis Q. Further, out ofthe entire outer periphery, the outer peripheral portion 72 a isconstituted of a contact part coming into contact with the lifting camfollower 73 and a contact retreat part formed in succession to thecontact part for retreating the contact with the lifting cam follower73.

More specifically, by the rotation in the lifting cam 72, the outerperipheral portion 72 a is in the state of being reliably in contactwith the lifting cam follower 73 if the contact part is positioned,among the outer peripheral portion 72 a, at a downward position in Zaxis direction as viewed in the drawing, and by the rotation of thelifting cam 72 in this contact state, the lifting cam follower 73 ismoved up and down.

In the meantime, in the lifting cam 72, if the contact retreat partamong the outer peripheral portion 72 a is positioned at a downwardposition in Z axis direction as viewed in the drawing, a space toprevent contact between the outer peripheral portion 72 a and thelifting cam follower 73 is secured therebetween. More particularly, atthe upper limit position set by the stopper 43 for the up-and-downmovement of the nozzle support section 58 in the state of beingconstantly biased upward by the spring 41, the space is secured betweenthe lifting cam follower 73 and the outer peripheral portion 72 a of thelifting cam 72. Thus, securing the space allows the head lifting device70 to be cut away from the inverting head 51 and allows the headinverting device 60 to smoothly invert the inverting head 51. It is tobe noted that the inverting head 51 is formed such that if the invertinghead 51 is inverted in this state, the inverting head 51 will not comeinto contact with the lifting cam 72. It is to be noted that in thefirst embodiment, a space of about, for example, 0.05 mm size can besecured as such space. Moreover, in the head lifting device 70, thecontact retreat part on the outer peripheral portion 72 a positioned atthe downward position in Z axis direction as viewed in the drawing isset at the position of a cam origin in the lifting cam 72. Therefore,only when the lifting cam 72 is positioned at the cam origin position,the head inverting device 60 is allowed to invert the inverting head 51.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in the head lifting device 70,a dog 74 for detecting cam curve line effective range to regulate therange of the movement of the outer peripheral portion 72 a by therotation of the lifting cam 72 is mounted on the top end of the driveshaft 71 a. The dog 74 has an almost disc-like shape having a notchportion on a part of its outer peripheral section, and can rotate aroundthe eccentric axis Q along with the rotation of the lifting cam 72.Moreover, on the head frame 81, a sensor 75 for detecting cam curveeffective range is mounted, the sensor 75 detecting the presence of thenotch portion on the outer peripheral portion of the dog 74 so as todetect the movement position of the outer peripheral portion 72 a of thelifting cam 72 and to limit the movement range within the cam curveeffective range. This makes it possible to limit the rotation range ofthe lifting cam 72 within the cam curve effective range, allowing theup-and-down operation of the inverting head 51 to be surely performed.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, a rotational load mechanism 76exemplifying the rotational load unit for imparting a predetermined loadto the rotation of the lifting cam 72 for the purpose of providingefficient controllability over the rotational position in the rotationof the lifting cam 72 is mounted on the head frame 81. The rotationalload mechanism 76 includes a load lever 76 b having a load cam follower76 a formed on its top end and coming into contact with the outerperipheral portion 72 a of the lifting cam 72 on the upper side in Zaxis direction as viewed in the drawing, and a spring 76 c biasing sothat the load cam follower 76 a is constantly in contact with the outerperipheral portion 72 a of the lifting cam 72 with the vicinity of thenear center of the load lever 76 b as a supporting point. The biasingforce of the spring 76 c can be constantly transmitted to the liftingcam 72 by the load cam follower 76 a via the load lever 76 b, so that apredetermined load is constantly imparted to the rotation of the liftingcam 72. Consequently, if a space is secured between the lifting cam 72and the lifting cam follower 73 so that a rotational load produced bythe contact therebetween is not generated, a rotational load can beimparted to the lifting cam 72 by the rotational load mechanism 76,thereby making it possible to stabilize the rotation of the lifting cam72 and to implement efficient controllability over the rotation amount.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the head frame 81 includes a Y-axis directionmovable frame 81 a supporting the inverting head 51, the head liftingdevice 70 and the head inverting device 60 and being able to move in Yaxis direction as viewed in the drawing, and an X-axis direction movableframe 81 b supporting the Y-axis direction movable frame 81 a movably inthe Y axis direction and being able to move in X axis direction asviewed in the drawing. The Y-axis direction movable frame 81 a ismounted on the top face of the X-axis direction movable frame 81 b viaan LM guide 82 located in Y axis direction as viewed in the drawing, andcan move in Y axis direction as viewed in the drawing while being guidedby the LM guide 82. Also, the X-axis direction movable frame 81 b ismounted on two LM guides 92 located on a base frame 91 of the headmoving device 90 in X axis direction as viewed in the drawing, and canmove in X axis direction while being guided by the respective LM guides92.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the head moving device 90 has a ball screwshaft 93 located on the top face of the base frame 91 along X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing. The ball screw shaft 93 is rotatablyfixed to the base frame 91 in the vicinity of both the end portions in Xaxis direction as viewed in the drawing. Further, the head moving device90 has a nut 94 fitted with the ball screw shaft 93 (see FIG. 4), andthe X-axis direction movable frame 81 b is mounted on the nut 94.Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, the head moving device 90 has a pulley 95mounted on the left-side end portion of the ball screw shaft 93 in Xaxis direction as viewed in the drawing and sharing the center ofrotation with the ball screw shaft 93, a movement motor 98 having adrive shaft located above the center of axis of the ball screw shaft 93in X axis direction as viewed in the drawing, a pulley 97 mounted on theend portion of the drive shaft of the movement motor 98, and a belt 96engaged with the respective pulleys 95 and 97. The pulley 95 and thepulley 97 are arranged so that their arrangement positions in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing are identical. With such constructionof the head moving device 90, the movement motor 98 is rotationallydriven in either forward or backward rotational direction so as torotate the pulley 97 around the center of axis, by which the pulley 95can be rotated in either forward or backward direction via the belt 96.Consequently, the ball screw shaft 93 is rotated in either forward orbackward direction, so that the nut 94 fitted therewith can be movedforward and backward along X axis direction as viewed in ,the drawing,and so the head frame 81 can be moved forward and backward along X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing, by which the inverting head 51 ismoved along X axis direction as viewed in the drawing.

Moreover, the inverting head apparatus 50 is structured such that the Xdirection as viewed in the drawing is longer than the Y axis directionas viewed in the drawing. With this structure, along with the movementof the inverting head 51 in X axis direction as viewed in the drawing bythe head moving device 90, a displacement of the movement may occur withrespect to the direction of the inverting head 51 in Y axis direction asviewed in the drawing. Such displacement may be generated by aproduction error of the ball screw shaft 93 in the head moving device 90or a production error of the LM guides 92. Moreover, it may be necessaryto provide the inverting head apparatus 50 with a device capable ofperforming fine adjustment of a transfer position in Y axis direction asviewed in the drawing when the electronic component 2 sucked and held bythe inverting head 51 is transferred to the mounting head 20.

Under these circumstances, the inverting head apparatus 50 has an Y-axisdirection correction device 80 exemplifying the head support unit movingdevice for moving the position of the inverting head 51 in Y axisdirection as viewed in the drawing so as to correct the position in thedirection. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the Y-axis directioncorrection device 80 includes a correction motor 83 mounted on the topface of the X-axis direction movable frame 81 b with its drive shaftbeing located along X axis direction as viewed in the drawing, acorrection cam 84 using the drive shaft of the correction motor 83 asthe center of eccentric rotation (eccentric axis S) and performing aneccentric rotational motion around the eccentric axis S, and acorrection cam follower 85 mounted on the right-hand end of the Y-axisdirection movable frame 8la in FIG. 4 and being in contact with theouter peripheral portion of the correction cam 84. Moreover, a spring 86is mounted such that one end is fixed to the Y-axis direction movableframe 81 a and the other end is fixed to the X-axis direction movableframe 81 b, and by tensile force of the spring 86, the contact betweenthe correction cam 84 and the correction cam follower 85 are in thestate of being constantly biased. With thus-structured Y-axis directioncorrection device 80, it becomes possible to drive the correction motor83 to rotate in either forward or backward direction so as to provide aneccentric reciprocating motion of the correction cam 84 around theeccentric axis S, convert the rotational motion to a reciprocal motionin Y axis direction as viewed in the drawing by the correction camfollower 85, and to move the Y-axis direction movable frame 81 a in Yaxis direction as viewed in the drawing while guiding the Y-axisdirection movable frame 81 a by the LM guide 82. This makes it possibleto correct the arrangement position of the inverting head 51 in Y axisdirection as viewed in the drawing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the component feeding apparatus 4 has arecognition camera device 150 exemplifying the recognition device forpicking up images of the respective electronic components 2 arranged onthe fed component arrangement unit 12 and recognizing the arrangementpositions of the respective electronic components 2. Such recognitioncamera device 150 makes it possible to move the inverting head 51 by thehead moving device 90 based on the recognition result and to suck andpickup the electronic components 2 arranged on the fed componentarrangement unit 12 by the inverting head 51.

Herein, an enlarged perspective view showing the recognition cameradevice 150 is shown in FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 13, the recognitioncamera device 150 includes a camera 151 for picking up an image of theelectronic component 2 arranged directly underneath the camera 151, acamera moving device 152 for supporting the camera 151 movably in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing while moving the camera 151, and asupport frame 153 for supporting the camera moving device 152. Thecamera moving device 152 is engaged with an LM rail 154 arranged along Xaxis direction as viewed in the drawing movably along the LM rail 154,and has an LM block 155 fixed onto the camera 151. Further, the cameramoving device 152 includes a ball screw shaft 156 arranged along X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing and fixed to the support frame 153rotatably around its center of axis, a nut 157 fitted with the ballscrew shaft 156 and fixed to the camera 151, and a drive motor 158 fordriving the ball screw shaft 156 to rotate around the center of axis.

In such structured recognition camera device 150, by driving the ballscrew shaft 156 to rotate in either forward or backward direction aroundits center of axis by the drive motor 158, the camera 151 fixed to thenut 157 can be moved forward and backward along the LM rail 154 in Xaxis direction as viewed in the drawing. This makes it possible toposition the camera 151 above the electronic component 2 arranged on thefed component arrangement unit 12 so that an image of the electroniccomponent 2 can be picked up by the camera 151 and the arrangementposition of the electronic component 2 can be recognized based on theimage.

Moreover, the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 has a mountingcontrol unit for performing comprehensive control by associating therespective component parts to each other, and the mounting control unitcomprehensively controls operations in the component feeding apparatus 4and the mounting apparatus 5. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, an invertinghead apparatus 50 has an inverting head control unit 100 subjected tocomprehensive control by the mounting control unit. The inverting headcontrol unit 100 can comprehensively control respective operationsincluding the sucking and holding operation by the suction nozzle 52,the θ-rotation operation by the θ-rotating unit 53, the invertingoperation of the inverting head 51 by the head inverting device 60, theup-and-down operation of the inverting head 51 by the head liftingdevice 70, the correcting operation of the arrangement position of theinverting head 51 in Y axis direction as viewed in the drawing by theY-axis direction correction device 80, and the moving operation of theinverting head 51 in X axis direction as viewed in the drawing by thehead moving device 90 while associating the respective operations toeach other. It is to be noted that the inverting head control unit 100can control the respective operations including the moving operation ofthe camera 151 by the camera moving device 152 in the recognition cameradevice 150, the image pickup operation of the electronic components 2 bythe camera 151, and the recognition and processing operation of thepicked up images, and control of these operations can also be executedwhile being associated to each other.

Description is hereinbelow given of component mounting operations insuch structured electronic component mounting apparatus 101, in whichthe electronic component 2 fed from the component feeding apparatus 4 ismoved by the inverting head apparatus 50 from the component pickupposition to the component transfer position, where the electroniccomponent 2 is transferred to the mounting head 20 in the mountingapparatus 5 so that the electronic component 2 is mounted on thesubstrate 3 by the mounting head 20. It is to be noted that a flowchartmainly showing the procedures of the inverting head apparatus 50 amongthese component mounting operations is shown in FIG. 7, schematicexplanatory views showing the flow of the component mounting operationsare shown in FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D, and with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG.8A to FIG. 8D, the component mounting operations are described. It is tobe noted that the respective operations described below arecomprehensively controlled by the mounting control unit in theelectronic component mounting apparatus 101, and the respectiveoperations regarding the inverting head apparatus 50 among theseoperations in particular are subject to comprehensive control by theinverting head control unit 100.

Before specific operations are described, description is first given ofthe electronic component mounting apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 8A to FIG.8D.

In the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 8A toFIG. 8D, the component feeding apparatus 4 is arranged on the left-handside as viewed in the drawing while the mounting apparatus 5 is arrangedon the right-hand side as viewed in the drawing. The position A in FIG.8A to FIG. 8D is the component pickup position, and at the componentpickup position A, a plurality of the electronic components 2 arearranged on the fed component arrangement unit 12 in a feedable mannerby the inverting head 51. It is to be noted that on the fed componentarrangement unit 12, the respective electronic components 2 are disposedwith their mounting-side surfaces 2 a to be mounted on the substrate 3which is the side of the surface with a plurality of bumps or junctionsections to the substrate 3 being formed thereon as their upper facesides.

Moreover, the position B in FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D is the component transferposition, and at the component transfer position B, the electroniccomponents 2 are transferred from the inverting head 51 to the mountinghead 20. Further, the position (or region) C in FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D isthe substrate mounting region, and in the substrate mounting region C,the substrate holding table 28 holding the substrate 3 is located. It isto be noted that as shown in FIG. 8A, on the substrate 3, one electroniccomponent 2 out of a plurality of electronic components 2 to be mountedon the substrate 3 is already mounted on the substrate 3 with itsmounting-side surface facing down. It is to be noted that in FIG. 8A toFIG. 8D, the horizontal direction as viewed in the drawing is Y axisdirection whereas the vertical direction as viewed in the drawing is Zaxis direction.

In such an electronic component mounting apparatus 101, first, in stepS1 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, in the inverting head apparatus 50,the inverting head 51 is moved by the head moving device 90 to thecomponent transfer position A, while the electronic component 2 arrangedon the fed component arrangement unit 12 and needed to be sucked andheld is positioned to be aligned with the suction nozzle 52. It is to benoted that such positioning can be implemented by picking up images ofthe respective electronic components 2 arranged on the fed componentarrangement unit 12 in the component feeding apparatus 4 by therecognition camera device 150, executing recognition processing of theimages, and controlling the movement position of the inverting head 51by the head moving device 90 based on the recognition result. Moreover,by providing the component feeding apparatus 4 with a moving device formoving the fed component arrangement unit 12 in X axis direction, thepositioning can be performed two-dimensionally and reliably. It is to benoted that during the positioning, the inverting head 51 is in the stateof being not inverted and the top end of the suction nozzle 52 is in thestate of being positioned downward as viewed in the drawing.

Next, in the inverting head apparatus 50, the inverting head 51 is moveddownward by the head lifting device 70 (step S2). More specifically, inFIG. 3 to FIG. 6, the lifting motor 71 is rotationally driven so thatthe lifting cam 72 in the state of being positioned at the position ofan origin for up-and-down movement is rotated around the eccentric axisQ, the outer peripheral portion 72 a is brought into contact with thelifting cam follower 73 while being pressed downward in Z axis directionas viewed in the drawing, and the nozzle support section 58 is moveddownward while being guided by the LM guide 42 so as to lower theinverting head 51.

By this, the top end portion of the suction nozzle 52 is brought intocontact with the mounting-side surface 2 a of the electronic component 2arranged on the fed component arrangement unit 12. Upon the contact, theelectronic component 2 is sucked and held by the suction nozzle 52 fromthe mounting-side surface 2 a (step S2). It is to be noted that thisstate is the state shown in FIG. 8A. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 8A, inthe mounting apparatus 5, the mounting head 20 is in the state of beingpositioned at the substrate mounting position C. Moreover, if therespective electronic component 2 arranged on the fed componentarrangement unit 12 are, for example, electronic components 2 fed fromdiced wafers, a pushup device or the like for pushing up the electroniccomponent 2 to be picked up from their lower face is provided so thatthe electronic component 2 is brought into contact with the suctionnozzle 52 in the state of being pushed up.

After that, in the state that the electronic component 2 is sucked andheld, upward movement of the inverting head 51 is started by the headlifting device 70 (step S4), and the electronic component 2 is picked upfrom the fed component arrangement unit 12. More specifically, in FIG. 3to FIG. 6, by driving the lifting motor 71 to rotate in directionopposite to the direction in the case of the downward movementoperation, the lifting cam 72 in the state of being in contact with thelifting cam follower 73 is rotated in the opposite direction around theeccentric axis Q, so that the contact position between the outerperipheral portion 72 a and the lifting cam follower 73 is positioned onthe upper side, and the nozzle support section 58 constantly biasedupward by the spring 41 is moved up while being guided by the LM guide42 so as to move the nozzle support section 58 upward. It is to be notedthat this state is the state shown in FIG. 8B. It is to be noted that asshown in FIG. 8B, in the mounting apparatus 5, the mounting head 20 ismoved by the X-axis robot 22 to the left-hand side in X axis directionas viewed in the drawing and move to the upper side of the componenttransfer position B. Without being limited to this timing, such movementof the mounting head 20 may be performed by the time that the invertinghead 51 is moved to the component transfer position B.

After the start of the upward movement of the inverting head 51 in thestep S3 in FIG. 7, when the sucked and held electronic component 2reaches a height position where interference with the other respectiveelectronic components 2 arranged on the fed component arrangement unit12 or other members is retreated, the movement of the inverting head 51by the head moving device 90 toward the right-hand side in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing is started (step S5).

At the same time, as the need arises, θ-rotation of the suction nozzle52 around the center of axis P by the θ-rotating unit 53 is performed(step S5). Such θ-rotation is executed to resolve the difference betweenthe planar arrangement direction of the electronic component 2 on thefed component arrangement unit 12 and the planar arrangement directionof the electronic component 2 for mounting on the substrate 3. Byperforming such θ-rotation of the suction nozzle 52, the planararrangement direction of the sucked and held electronic component 2 isrotated so that the electronic component 2 can be moved by the rotationto the planar arrangement direction for the mounting. It is to be notedthat such a difference in arrangement direction is inputted in advanceas, for example, arrangement direction data, into the inverting headcontrol unit 100 or the like, by which the θ-rotating unit 53 iscontrolled by the inverting head control unit 100 to resolve thedifference. If the difference in arrangement direction is not present,such θ-rotation is not performed. More specifically, in FIG. 3 to FIG.6, the θ-rotation motor 54 is rotationally driven, and the rotationaldriving is transmitted to the suction nozzle 52 via the respectivepulleys 57, 59 and the belt 56, 30 that the suction nozzle 52 is rotatedaround the center of axis P for resolving the difference.

Further, along with the start of the movement of the inverting head 51by the head moving device 90, the correcting operation of thearrangement position of the inverting head 51 in Y axis direction isperformed by the Y-axis direction correction device 80 (step S5). Thus,by performing the correcting operation in the Y axis direction,displacement between the component pickup position A and the componenttransfer position B in Y axis direction can be corrected and theinverting head 51 can be reliably positioned at the component transferposition B. More specifically, in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the correctionmotor 83 is rotationally driven so as to rotate the correction cam 84around the eccentric axis S, and the correction cam follower 85 which isin the state of being biased by the spring 86 and constantly in contactwith the outer peripheral portion of the correction cam 84 is moved in Yaxis direction as viewed in the drawing, so that the Y-axis directionmovable frame 81 a is moved in Y axis direction as viewed in the drawingwhile being guided by the LM guide 82, by which the correction movementof the inverting head 51 is performed.

After that, once the inverting head 51 moving upward reaches the upperlimit position for the upward movement, the upward movement by the headlifting device 70 is stopped and completed (step S6). Such an upperlimit position for the upward movement is detected based on a rotationaldriving amount of the lifting motor 71, or by detecting, with use of thedog 74 and the sensor 75 shown in FIG. 5, that the contact retreat parton the outer peripheral portion 72 a of the lifting cam 72 is positionedat the lower end position in Z axis direction (i.e., at the position ofa cam origin). Moreover, at the upper limit position, the lifting cam 72is in the state of being positioned at the position of an origin forup-and-down movement, and a space is secured between the lifting cam 72and the lifting cam follower 73 so as to retreat contact therebetween.More particularly, the head lifting device 70 and the inverting head 51are in the state of being separated from each other.

After that, the inverting head 51 after being moved in X axis directionas viewed in the drawing and separated from the head lifting device 70is inverted by the head inverting device 60 (step S7). Morespecifically, in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, the inverting motor 61 isrotationally driven, and the rotational driving is transmitted to theinversion shaft 66 via the respective pulleys 62, 64 and the belt 63, sothat the inversion shaft 66 is rotated around the inversion axis R andthe nozzle support section 58 is rotated via the LM guide 42, by whichthe inverting head 51 is inverted around the inversion axis R. Thus, byinverting the inverting head 51, the suction nozzle 52 can be invertedin Z axis direction as viewed in the drawing, by which the mounting-sidesurface 2 a of the electronic component 2 sucked and held by the top endportion of the suction nozzle 52 positioned on the upper side may facedown. It is to be noted that when such inversion is performed, the headlifting device 70 and the inverting head 51 are in the state of beingseparated from each other, which prevents interference between theinverting head 51 and the head lifting device 70.

After that, the inverting operation of the inverting head 51 by the headinverting device 60 and the correcting operation in Y axis direction bythe Y-axis direction correction device 80 are completed, and theinverting head 51 is positioned at the component transfer position B, bywhich the movement of the inverting head 51 in X axis direction by thehead moving device 90 is stopped and completed (step S8).

At the same time, the mounting head 20 positioned at the componenttransfer position B is moved downward, and the top face of theelectronic component 2 sucked and held by the top end portion of thesuction nozzle 52 of the inverting head 51 is sucked and held by themounting head 20. Along with this, suction and holding of the electroniccomponent 2 by the suction nozzle 52 of the inverting head 51 isreleased, and by moving the mounting head 20 upward, transfer of theelectronic component 2 to the mounting head 20 is performed (step S9).This state is the state shown in FIG. 8C.

After that, as shown in FIG. 8D, in the mounting apparatus 5, themounting head 20 which received the electronic component 2 is moved tothe substrate mounting position C, where mounting of the electroniccomponent 2 on the substrate 3 is performed. It is to be noted that themounting operation of the electronic component 2 on the substrate 3 hasbeen described before and therefore the description is omitted herein.

Description is now given of the moving operation of the mounting head 20in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 from the position inthe vicinity of the substrate holding table 28 in the substrate mountingregion C to the component transfer position B where transfer of theelectronic component 2 with the inverting head 51 is performed.

Before the movement of the mounting head 20 in the first embodiment isdescribed, the conventional movement will be described first. It is tobe noted that the mounting head 20 and other component parts areexpressed by the same reference numerals in the electronic componentmounting apparatus 101 for convenience.

First, a schematic explanatory view showing the conventional movingoperation of the mounting head 20 is shown in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG.9, at the substrate mounting region C, a mounting head 20 (mounting head20 shown by a broken line in the drawing) moved downward to the top faceof a substrate holding table 28 is first moved upward to a sensor heightposition H2, a predetermined height position. Once it is detected by anunshown sensor at the sensor height H2 that the mounting head unit ismoved upward to the sensor height position H2, movement of the mountinghead 20 toward the left-hand direction in X axis direction as viewed inthe drawing is started. Then, upward movement of the mounting head 20and movement in X axis direction are performed simultaneously, and alonga movement track D, the mounting head 20 is moved to a target heightposition H1 above an inverting head 51 at the component transferposition B. In such conventional movement, the movement in X axisdirection is started simply after the detection by the sensor, and sothe movement can be performed with simple processing.

However, a sensor dedicated for the detection needs to be located, andif the sensor breaks down, interference between the mounting head 20 andthe inverting head 51 may occur. Further, the sensor detects only thesensor height position H2, that is a height position, and so if themoving speed of the mounting head 20 in X axis direction is changed, themounting head 20 moves, for example, laying a movement track E as shownin FIG. 10, thereby posing a risk of interference between the mountinghead 20 and the inverting head 51.

The moving operation of the mounting head 20 in the first embodiment forsolving such a problem is shown in FIG. 11. As shown in FIG. 11, first,when the movement of the mounting head 20 is started, coordinate dataabout a pass point T of the movement track F which prevents interferencebetween the mounting head 20 and the inverting head 51 is determined inthe mounting control unit or the like. It is to be noted that thecoordinate data may be preset in the mounting control unit or the like.

Next, in the mounting control unit or the like, times necessary forpassing the pass point T by the movement of the mounting head 20 arecalculated in the case of the movement in Z axis direction and in thecase of the movement in X axis direction, respectively. After that, themoving operation which takes a longer time among the calculated times isstarted first, while a difference between the respective times iscalculated, and after the start is held up for the difference, the othermovement is started. By performing the respective moving operations inthis way, it becomes possible to simultaneously pass the pass point T bythe respective moving operations, i.e., the mounting head 20 may movelaying a movement track F which certainly passes the pass point T.

By performing such moving operations, it becomes possible to prevent themounting head 20 from interference with the inverting head 51 even ifthe moving speed is changed in Z axis direction or in X axis direction,thereby allowing reliable and effective movement of the mounting head20. It is to be noted that if the inverting head 51 is not positioned atthe component transfer position B, then the mounting head 20 may bemoved more linearly by the most direct way without movement control tolead the mounting head 20 to pass the pass point T.

Effect by First Embodiment

According to the first embodiment, the following various effects can beobtained.

First, in the inverting head apparatus 50, the inverting head 51 whichis an object subjected to the inverting operation and the up-and-downoperation has a minimum structure composed of only the suction nozzle 52and the θ-rotating unit 53 performing θ-rotation of the suction nozzle52, and the head inverting device 60 performing the inverting operationof the inverting head 51 and the head lifting device 70 performing theup-and-down operation are not included in the object but are providedindependently of the inverting head 51, which allows the inverting head51 to be downsized.

Further, the inverting head 51 is supported by the inversion shaft 66performing rotation around the inversion axis R in the head liftingdevice 70 mounted on the head frame 81 in a manner allowing up-and-downmovement in Z axis direction via the LM guide 42, and between thelifting cam 72 performing eccentric rotation around the eccentric axis Qin the head inverting device 60 also mounted on the head frame 81 andthe lifting cam follower 73 mounted on the inverting head 51 coming intocontact with the outer peripheral portion 72 a of the lifting cam 72, aspace large enough to avoid contact therebetween can be secured due tothe rotational position of the lifting cam 72, which downsizing of suchan inverting head 51 can be achieved.

More particularly, since the inverting head 51 is supported by the headinverting device 60 movably in Z axis direction via the LM guide 42, theup-and-down operation of the inverting head 51 in Z axis direction canbe performed by the head lifting device 70 while the inverting head 51is guided by the LM guide 42 without being influenced by the headinverting device 60. Further, since the space can be secured between thelifting cam 72 and the lifting cam follower 73 by the rotationalposition of the lifting cam 72, the inverting operation of the invertinghead 51 can be performed by the head inverting device 60 in the statethat the head lifting device 70 and the inverting head 51 are separatedfrom each other without being influenced by the head lifting device 70.Consequently, it becomes possible to provide the head inverting device60 and the head lifting device 70 which respectively perform theinverting operation and the up-and-down operation of the inverting head51 as different constitutions from the inverting head 51. Therefore, theinverting head 51 itself may be structured to have a requisite minimummechanism as described above, and so downsizing of the inverting head 51can be achieved.

Thus, downsizing of the inverting head 51 can be achieved in theinverting head apparatus 50, by which the inverting head 51 to be movedcan be positioned between the mounting head 20 and the substrate holdingtable 28 in the mounting apparatus 5, or if not positioned therebetweenin actuality, the inverting head 51 can be moved as close as possible tothe vicinity of the substrate mounting position C.

Therefore, the effects which are impossible to realize in theconventional component feeding head apparatus 501 can be achieved, andas a consequence, among a component feeding line that is a movement lineof the inverting head 51 (i.e., a movement line from the componentpickup position A to the component transfer position B) and a componentmounting line that is a movement line of the mounting head 20 (i.e., amovement line from the component transfer position B to the substratemounting region C), the distance of the component mounting line of themounting head 20 which exerts a direct influence on the componentmounting operation can be set shorter and the operation speed thereof iskept low so as to decrease the generation of vibration, while at thesame time, the distance of the component feeding line of the invertinghead 51 which exerts less direct influence on the component mountingoperation can be set longer and the operation speed thereof can beincreased. Therefore, it becomes possible to provide the inverting headapparatus 50, the component feeding apparatus 4 having the invertinghead apparatus 50, and the electronic component mounting apparatus 101which can achieve and implement both the enhanced prevision and theincreased productivity in the component mounting.

It is to be noted that in the working example of the practicalelectronic component mounting apparatus 101, the distance size betweenthe component pickup position A and the component transfer position B inFIG. 8A to FIG. 8D could be set longer, and the distance size betweenthe component transfer position B and the substrate mounting region Ccould be shortened from the conventional size of about 450 mm to about130 mm. Moreover, since the downsizing of the inverting head 51 itselfmakes it possible to decrease the size in Z axis direction, the distancesize between the mounting head 20 and the substrate holding table 28 forexample could be shortened from the conventional size of about 200 mm toabout 67 mm, and further the downsized inverting head 51 could bepositioned therebetween.

Moreover, in the inverting head apparatus 50, the head frame 81supporting the inverting head 51 in a manner allowing up-and-downmovement and inversion as well as supporting the head inverting device60 and the head lifting device 70 has the Y-axis direction movable frame81 a and the X-axis direction movable frame 81 b, the Y-axis directionmovable frame 81 a performing the support operation while being able tomove in Y axis direction on the top face of the X-axis direction movableframe 81 b by the Y-axis direction correction device 80, by which theinverting head 51 can be moved also in Y axis direction.

Therefore, in the inverting head apparatus 50, downsizing of theinverting head 51 can be realized, and at the same time, wide operationsof the inverting head 51 including the θ-rotation of the suction nozzle52 by the inverting head 51, the up-and-down movement and inversion ofthe inverting head 51, and the movement of the inverting head 51 in Xaxis direction and Y axis direction can be realized, which makes itpossible to support the component mounting with higher precision and toincrease the productivity in the component mounting.

Second Embodiment

It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to theembodiment described so far, and can be embodied in other variousaspects. For example, a component feeding apparatus according to asecond embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

Although the component feeding apparatus of the second embodiment has astructure different from that of the first embodiment in the point thatthe recognition camera device 150 arranged on the fed componentarrangement unit 12 of the component feeding apparatus 4 in the firstembodiment is replaced with an recognition camera device exemplifyingthe component recognition device having a different structure, otherconstructions of the component feeding apparatus of the secondembodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment. Consequently,in the following description, description is only given of the differentstructure. It is to be understood that in the following description,component parts having the same structure as that of the firstembodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and theirdescription is omitted for easier understanding.

First, a fragmentary enlarged perspective view showing an inverting headapparatus 250 included in a component feeding apparatus (componentfeeding unit) in the second embodiment is shown in FIG. 14. As shown inFIG. 14, the inverting head apparatus 250 has almost the sameconstruction as that of the inverting head apparatus 50 of the firstembodiment shown in FIG. 3, but has a different construction in thepoint that a recognition camera device 280 is provided adjacent to theinverting head 51. A fragmentary side view of such a recognition cameradevice 280 as viewed from X axis direction in the drawing is shown inFIG. 15, a fragmentary front view as viewed from Y axis direction isshown in FIG. 16, and a fragmentary plane view as viewed from Z axisdirection is shown in FIG. 17.

As shown in FIG. 14 to FIG. 17, in the inverting head apparatus 250, therecognition camera device 280 is fixed onto a head frame 81 so as to bedisposed on the left-hand side of an inverting head 51 in X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing in the state of being integrated withthe head frame 81. Consequently, by moving the head frame 81 by a headmoving device 290 (unshown in FIG. 14 through FIG. 17) along X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing, the recognition camera device 280can be moved together with the inverting head 51 in X axis direction asviewed in the drawing.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 14, the recognition camera device 280 has acamera section 281 arranged on the left-hand side in Y axis direction asviewed in the drawing and having an optical axis J (shown in FIG. 15)arranged along Y axis direction, a reflection mirror section 282 havingan image pickup axis K (shown in FIG. 15) arranged along Z axisdirection as viewed in the drawing and reflecting an image of theelectronic component 2, which upwardly comes incident along the imagepickup axis K, along the optical axis J, and a lighting section 283 forproviding necessary lighting for picking up the image of the electroniccomponent 2. Moreover, the image pickup axis K and a center of axis P ofa suction nozzle 52 included in the inverting head 51 are arranged sothat their arrangement positions in Y axis direction are aligned (i.e.,arranged in alignment along X axis direction).

Description is given of the operations from the operation to suck andpick up the electronic component 2 in the inverting head apparatus 250having such-structured recognition camera device 280 to the operation totransfer the sucked and picked-up electronic component 2 to the mountinghead 20 with reference to a schematic explanatory view shown in FIG. 18.

As shown in FIG. 18, in the inverting head apparatus 250, by moving thehead frame 81 by the head moving device 290 along X axis direction asviewed in the drawing, the recognition camera device 280 is movedintegrally with the head frame 81 to a component pickup position A,while the electronic component 2 arranged on a fed component arrangementunit 12 and needed to be sucked and held is positioned to be alignedwith the image pickup axis K of the recognition camera device 280.

After the positioning, an image of the electronic component 2 is pickedup by the recognition camera device 280. The picked-up image is inputtedinto an inverting head control unit 100 and is subjected to imagerecognition processing, and based on the recognition result, thearrangement position of the electronic component 2 is recognized.

After that, based on the recognition result of the arrangement position,the head frame 81 is moved by a head moving device 290 along X axisdirection as viewed in the drawing so that the inverting head 51 ismoved integrally with the head frame 81, while the electronic component2 is positioned to be aligned with the center of axis P of the suctionnozzle 52 in the inverting head 51. It is to be noted that during thepositioning, the inverting head 51 is in the state of being not invertedand the top end of the suction nozzle 52 is in the state of beingpositioned downward as viewed in the drawing.

Next, in the inverting head apparatus 250, the inverting head 51 ismoved downward by the head lifting device 70 and in the same proceduresas those in the first embodiment, the electronic component 2 are suckedand picked up by the inverting head 51.

After that, by moving the head frame 81 by the head moving device 290 inX axis direction as viewed in the drawing, the inverting head 51 forsucking and holding the electronic component 2 is moved to the componenttransfer position B. In the process of this movement, the invertingoperation of the inverting head 51 is performed. Moreover, along withthe movement of the inverting head 51, the recognition camera device 280fixed to the head frame 81 is integrally moved.

Upon reaching the component transfer position B, the inverting head 51transfers the sucked and held electronic component 2 to the mountinghead 20 which is also moved from the substrate mounting position C tothe component transfer position B. After that, the mounting head 20 ismoved to the substrate mounting position C, where the mounting operationof the electronic component 2 on the substrate 3 is performed.

In the meantime, the inverting head 51 and the recognition camera device280 are integrally moved from the component transfer position B to thecomponent pickup position A, and the image pickup operation of the nextelectronic component 2 is performed by the recognition camera device280.

From this point onward, the same operations are repeated, by which thesuction/pickup operation and the mounting operation of a plurality ofelectronic components 2 are performed.

Effect by Second Embodiment

According to the second embodiment, by utilizing the increased movingspeed of the inverting head 51 by the head moving device 290, not onlythe inverting head 51 but also the recognition camera device 280 forpicking up images of electronic components 2 are supported by the headframe 81, so that the movement of the inverting head 51 and therecognition camera device 280 in X axis direction can be driven by thehead moving device 290.

Such a structure makes it possible to make the construction of therecognition camera device 280 simpler and the cost of the entire devicesmaller than those in the case where, like the structure of theelectronic component mounting apparatus 101 of the first embodimentshown in the schematic explanatory view of FIG. 19, the componentfeeding apparatus 4 has the head moving device 90 for driving themovement of the inverting head 51 and the camera moving device 152 fordriving the movement of the camera 151 in the recognition camera device150 independently.

Moreover, if the head moving device 290 takes charge of the movement ofboth the recognition camera device 280 and the inverting head section inX axis direction as stated above, the moving speed of the inverting head51 and the recognition camera device 280 by the head moving device 290is increased (e.g., moving speed: 1 m/0.5 sec.), so that the imagepickup operation of the next electronic component 2 which is sucked andheld in the next place, the sucking and holding operation of theelectronic component 2, and the moving operation of the inverting head51 from the component pickup position A to the component transferposition B can be performed during the mounting operation of theelectronic component 2 by the mounting head 20, and therefore the timenecessary for the component mounting operation is not increased.

Therefore, in the electronic components mounting device, effectivefeeding operation and mounting operation of electronic components can beperformed, while at the same time, the structure thereof can besimplified and cost reduction can be achieved.

It is to be noted that, by properly combining the arbitrary embodimentsof the aforementioned various embodiments, the effects possessed by themcan be produced.

Although the present invention has been fully described in connectionwith the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to theaccompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes andmodifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes andmodifications are to be understood as included within the scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims unless they departtherefrom.

1. A method in which from an upper side of a substrate mounting regionwhere components are mounted on a substrate by a mounting head unit, themounting head unit is moved to a component transfer position where thecomponent held by an inverting head unit is transferred to the mountinghead unit, comprising: determining a pass point between the substratemounting region and the component transfer position, at which themounting head unit will not interfere with the inverting head unitduring movement of the mounting head unit; calculating movement timestaken for the mounting head unit, when the mounting head unit is moved,to pass the determined pass point both in a case of movement in adirection along a surface of the substrate and in a case of movement ina direction almost orthogonal to the surface of the substrate; startingthe movement of a longer time among the calculated movement times andcalculating a difference between the respective movement times; andstarting the other movement so as to move the mounting head unit to thecomponent transfer position via the pass point, after holding up startof the other movement for the difference between the movement times.